LAS VEGAS – Not overwhelmed with how things were working out for “The Ultimate Fighter” in its Friday night time slot the past two seasons, UFC President Dana White was hopeful that FOX execs would be on board with moving the UFC’s flagship reality competition to a different day of the week.

Earlier this month, he got his wish when it became official that the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on FX would move from a 10 p.m. ET Friday slot to 9 p.m. ET on Tuesdays. Season 17 of the show debuts in its new day and time on Jan. 22 with coaches Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen.

On Thursday, White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the move to Tuesdays was one he precipitated in his dealings with FOX, which launched a seven-year broadcast deal with the UFC at the start of this year.

“That was me – 100 percent me,” White told MMAjunkie.com. “What I love about those guys is, and I’ve said this to you guys a million times – FX loved us on Friday nights. They’re good partners and they promised me – they said, ‘Let us try to build this Friday thing to where you’ll be happy with the numbers, and if we don’t, we’ll move you to another night.’ And they did. They kept their word. The FOX group, they’re the best people in television to work with.”

White said the choice for day of the week boiled down to two options: Tuesday and Wednesday. “I’m not a fan of Thursday-Friday,” White said.

Friday, of course, was off the table after the two-season experiment with “TUF Live” this past spring and “TUF 16″ this past fall. Saturdays, naturally, would be out since the majority of the UFC’s events fall on that night of the week. Thursday is the new night of the week for Bellator on the UFC’s former home at Spike TV. Bellator is the UFC’s primary competition for television viewers in the United States.

“TUF 17″ on FX will lead into “Justified,” one of the cable network’s most critically acclaimed and popular series.

“I think that Tuesday nights are a better night for us,” White said. “Tuesday nights at 9 o’clock (Eastern), we’re leading into ‘Justified’ – I just think more of our people are home watching TV (on Tuesday) than there are on Friday nights at 10.”

The news of the new date and time initially was announced in the latest issue of “UFC 360,” formerly known as “UFC Magazine.” An FX ad in the issue declared the development, which MMAjunkie.com reported on earlier this month.

For the latest on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

The Latest

Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor, the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums and, perhaps most importantly, social-media platforms.

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?